To comprehend the word of God, we must be born of the Spirit, for He alone guides us into all the truth.
John 16:13-15,
13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own` initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will disclose to you what is to come.
14 “He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you.
15 “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you.”
Again, trying to comprehend God’s holy word with our own understanding will only produce opinions. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal the truths of God to us.
In speaking of the ministry of an apostle, Paul said, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete,” 2 Corinthians 10:5-6 NASB.
In other versions of the Bible, the word ‘speculations’ in the above verse is rendered as imaginations, reasonings, arrogance, high-minded, arguments, proud obstacle, intellectual arrogance, pride, proud things, claim, etc.
The Greek word for speculation is logismos:
Strong’s Concordance – logismos 3053
logismos: a reasoning, a thought
Usage: reasoning, thinking; a conception, device.
HELPS Word-studies
3053 logismós (from 3049/logízomai, “to reckon”) – properly, “bottom-line” reasoning that reflects someone’s values, i.e. how they personally assign weight in determining what they find reasonable.
3053 /logismós (“calculated arguments, thoughts”) emphasizes reaching a personal opinion, i.e. what comes out of a personal reckoning.
From the descriptions above, it is obvious that Paul was referring to speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God as being the opinions of man, for he goes on to say, “…and we are taking captive every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
In the kingdom of God, there is no room for opinions. Opinions deter the word of God. They impede the Holy Spirit. One must be led by the Holy Spirit for He is the one who reveals the truth to man.
So many opinions have been formed throughout Christendom; for centuries people have tried to combine two and two only to come up with three or five, yet they swear by their opinions, when, in reality, they disobeyed God just by forming their opinions, and even more so by preaching them to others.
This is serious. We are to obey the Lord, for Jesus has become the source of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him, Hebrews 5:9. Those who are without discipline are illegitimate children and not sons, Hebrews 12:8.
Once again, as Paul said, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete,”
2 Corinthians 10:5-6.
We must discipline ourselves against forming opinions and simply trust God to reveal His truths to us via the Holy Spirit as we read His word.
Romans 11:33-34,
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
34 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR?
Woe to all who, instead of learning discipline, choose to walk in speculations and lofty thoughts of their own making. These are the untaught and unstable who distort the Scriptures to their own destruction. These also include the self-taught who form their own opinions rather than allowing the Spirit to teach them. They have a rude awakening coming.
Jon David Banks, God’s most unworthy servant
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
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